Faculty artist concert

edward johnson building

faculty of music
university of toronto

FACULTY ARTISTS SERIES

WALTER HALL
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1979

8 P.M,

This concert will be broadcast by CBC at the following times:

Mostly Music, CBC Stereo, 94.1 FM, 11.35 am - 1 pm; and CBC
Radio 740 AM at 10.35 pm - 12 midnight on October 12, 1979.

>

PROGRAM

Trio in Eb major, K.498 W. A. MOZART

Andante
Menuetto
Rondo: Allegretto

STANLEY McCARTNEY, clarinet; RIVKA GOLAN|-ERDESZ, viola;
_ JANE COOP, piano

Each of the works on tonight's program reflects an innovative
approach to chamber music instrumentation. In the case of the
Clarinet Trio, this innovation was directly related to Mozart's
warm relationship with the clarinetist Anton Stadler and the
pianist Francesca von Jacquin. Stadler's prominent role in
Mozart's career is well known. His virtuosity was responsible
not only for the inclusion of the clarinet here, but also for
the composition of the Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, and the
Clarinet Concerto, K. 622. The Baroness von Jacquin, whose
family had long been on friendly terms with Mozart, and for
whom the trio seems primarily to have been written, was a gifted
pupil of the composer's. Needless to say, the viola part was
intended for Mozart himself.

From a strictly commercial point of view, Mozart's decision to
write for this unusual ensemble was perhaps somewhat j11l-advised.
It is an interesting fact that, in order to offset the
possibility of poor sales engendered by the use of the clarinet,
the title page of the first edition (1788) was made to read:
"Trio for Harpsichord or Piano accompanied by Violin and Viola...
The Violin part may also be played on a Clarinet." This
misrepresentation reflected the normal arrangement for the piano
trio, and the normal expectations of the trio playing public.

Sonate CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Pastorale
Interlude
Finale

JEANNE BAXTRESSER, flute; RIVKA GOLAN|-ERDESZ, viola;
JUDY LOMAN, harp

In contrast to the Clarinet Trio, Debussy's ‘Sonata for Flute,

Viola, and Harp shows only an indirect, or reactive, relation-
ship with external events. I[t was composed during the summer

of 1915, at a time when, depressed and emotionally drained by

the continuing ravages of the war and by the steady progress of

the illness that was shortly to end his life, Debussy was able

to escape from the "open jail" of Paris to a quiet cottage in
Pourville. Following a period of almost a year during which

he had composed practically nothing, the short time he spent at
Pourville witnessed a-tremendous creative surge. En Blane et

Noir, the Twelve Studies, the Cello Sonata, and the work on
tonight's program were all substantially composed during the
summer months. A comment of Debussy's might suggest an
interpretation of this output as an act of “intellectual Fes|st-
ance!' to German domination but, in the musical sense, Debussy

had been inyolyed in such an act since the 1890's. Ina letter

of August 1915, he writes: "lI want to work not so much for myself,
but to give proof, however small it may be, that even if there were
thirty million Boches (i.e. on French soil), French thought will
not be destroyed."!

The Sonata js the second of a projected set of six such works for
various instrumental combinations, Debussy lived long enough to
complete only the third of. the set, for violin and piano. The

fourth and fifth sonatas were to call] for oboe, horn, and harpsichord,
and trumpet, clarinet, and bassoon respectively. The sixth was
evidently intended as a high point of the set, and was meant to
include all of the instruments used thus far, plus a double bass.

The Sonatas were Debussy's first full scale chamber works since

the Quartet of 1893, More than one critic has commented on the
unprecedented production of such works as the Etudes and the Sonatas
as indicative of a move away from literary association which other-
wise played such a prominent role in Debussy's work. The Sonatas
clearly reflect a preoccupation with the subtleties of instrumental
combination and with the restrictions posed by reference to
traditional forms. The Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp offers ample
evidence of Debussy's remarkable inventiveness In the area of
instrumental colour and sonority, and of his success in putting this
inventiveness at the service of formal clarity.

INTERMISSION

L'Histoire du Soldat (Concert version) IGOR STRAVINSKY

March of the Soldier; Music of the Ist Scene;

Music of the 2nd Scene; Royal March; Little Concert;
Three Dances; Tango, Waltz, Ragtime; Dance of the Devil;
Grand Chorale; Triumphal March of the Devil.

STANLEY McCARTNEY, clarinet; DAVID CARROLL, bassoon;
STEPHEN CHENETTE, trumpet; FRANK HARMANTAS, trombone;
RUSSELL HARTENBERGER, percussion; DAVID ZAFER, violin;
THOMAS MONOHAN, double bass; VICTOR FELDBRILL, conductor.

With Stravinsky's Histoire, we return to a work whose genesis owes

a great deal to the acceptance of external conditions. Stravinsky's
main residence from 1914 to 1920 was Switzerland where, until 1917,
he was receiving a certain amount of material support from Russia.
The Revolution and the deprivations of the war brought his fortunes
to a low ebb, and the possibility of producing a large scale work
was eliminated. In 1917, Stravinsky and Charles Ramuz conceived

the idea of a piece for a small travelling theatre, consisting of

a narrator, two mime actors, a ballerina, and seven instrumentalists.
Stravinsky's music was intended from the beginning to be performable
as an independent suite. The narrative concerns a soldier who
deserts, and is carried off, Faust-like, by the Devil. Redemption
comes in the form of an enchanted princess, but the Devil neverthe-
less wins the day in the final scene.

The ensemble consists of a treble and bass member from each of the
wind, brass, and string families, in addition to an extensive array
of percussion instruments. Stravinsky recognized a certain indebt-
edness to jazz in this work, and the sound often suggests something
of a ragtime band. At the same time, the choice of instruments
reflects a desire on the composer's part to make available as heter-
Ogeneous a timbre as possible, so that the individual instrumental
roles remain very clear. This deliberate lack of overall blend,
which some see as related to the ''split sonority'' or ''Spaltklang" of
medieval and early renaissance music, is reinforced by the frequent
use of the instruments in inconvenient registers.

Notes by Art Levine

NEXT CONCERT: U. of T. Orchestra, October 13, 8 pm, MacMillan Theatre
NEXT FACULTY ARTISTS CONCERT: November 3, 1979, at 8 pm, Walter Hall.